Generally, a vehicle is provided with a hood covering an engine compartment and a latch assembly for opening or closing the hood.
However, conventional hood latch assemblies have a number of disadvantages. For example, they often include a safety latch that requires manual release at the front of the vehicle allowing the hood to be opened. However, it is difficult to provide sufficient space between the safety lever and the hood. This is an important factor when designing to reduce an impact on a human body as a pedestrian is collided with a hood part of the vehicle, as the safety lever is always disposed in an upright position.
Moreover, conventional hood latch assemblies are a disadvantage in that their size is limited by spatial constraints and the shape of the safety lever. The size of the safety lever is generally preferred to be as large as possible for easy manipulation.